Taiyo Pacific Partners Becomes Major
Shareholder in Peptidream, Inc. with Stake over 5%

November 06, 2014 12:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time

TOKYO--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Taiyo Pacific Partners announced today that it has accumulated in excess
of 5% in Peptidream, Inc. (4587) to become Peptidream’s second largest
institutional shareholder. Peptidream aspires to be a world leader in
the discovery and development of novel highly functional peptide
therapeutics to address unmet medical needs and improve the quality of
life of patients worldwide. Taiyo Pacific Partners is a pioneer of
friendly engagement investing in Japan and has been proactively working
with senior management at its portfolio companies to enhance shareholder
value for over 11 years.

Brian K. Heywood, Chief Executive Officer and Founding Partner of Taiyo
Pacific Partners, said, “Peptidream’s innovation in peptide development
is a very exciting breakthrough which combines the advantages of both
traditional small molecule medicines with those of more expensive
antibody pharmaceuticals. We strongly believe they will unlock
tremendous value for patients as well as shareholders as they work with
the top drug makers around the world in this growing field.”

Michael A. King, Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner of Taiyo
Pacific Partners, said, “Unlike many young firms in the pharmaceutical
space, we were impressed by management’s ability to create an upfront
fee business model which keeps the firm profitable even during this ramp
up period of new clients and projects. This speaks to the strength and
effectiveness of Peptidream’s unique and well patented “peptide
discovery platform system” which is winning high acclaim in the industry
for this growing category of therapeutics.”

President & CEO Kiichi Kubota commented, “We aim to become not only a
leader in our field of peptide-based therapeutics globally, but also a
leader in value creation through innovation for our shareholders with a
sustainable high ROE. I am excited to have a shareholder like Taiyo
Pacific Partners with long term vision that takes the time to understand
our complex technology and is willing to grow with our business and
offer support.”

Taiyo Pacific Partners is one of the largest engagement funds in Japan
with over $2.4 billion dollars invested in publicly-listed Japanese
small- and mid-cap companies. The firm has a diverse and synergistic
investment team of 20 bi-lingual professionals with over 320 combined
years of Asia-related work experience. Since its founding in 2003, Taiyo
Pacific Partners has attracted assets from some of the largest and most
widely known institutions in the world including public pensions,
sovereign wealth funds, and leading endowments in the U.S., Europe, and
Japan.